


^a. 







l^ 



A 






.^ 






^> 



»^ 



' • - ' ^*-' "^ 






-^ 



O 



C>. 



..*^ 



•7' 



'^ 



^0^ 



^ ,*W'/^ 






.^ 






■a? *<• 



'^oP 



1-* 



A^ 






<f> 



■'7'. 



o 






'■"■^ 



> 



'^*^ '■.•>■' -o^i 



^ 



<•. 



.>*' 



o '{ 






.0^ 









o* 



.^^^ 



>' 



^^ 



-^^ 






4 
/->^ 



0^ ^- 



•^o. 









G^ 



'>y' -<:• 



A' 



r^o^ 



<^' 



•^^^ 



- -^ 



-^.^^ 



"K-, 



PRIZE ESSAY 



FAIRS 



BY 

ALLEN W. DODGE, 

OF HAMILTON, MASS. 



BOSTON: 

1858. 

J. H. EASTBURN'S PRESS. 



PRIZE ESSAY 



FAIRS. 



BY i/ 

ALLEN W. DODGE, 

OF HAMILTON, MASS. 



BOSTON : 

1858. 

J. H. EASTBURN'S PRESS. 



Ss-7/ 



ESSAY. 



In oflfering: its prize for the best essay on the advantages to be 
derived from establishing regular tairs or market-days throughout the 
State, for the sale and exchange of agricultural products, it is pre- 
sumed that the Society did not mean to consider the question as set- 
tled in favor of such Vairs ; but wished rather to elicit inquiry into 
their merits as compared with the prevailing modes of disposing of 
the products of the farm ; and if, upon a careful and candid consid- 
eration of the question, it should be found that there were suflicient 
and weighty reasons for the establishing of such fairs, that then some 
practical plan should be proposed for this purpose. 

These fairs or market-days, which in fact are nothing more than a 
periodical concourse of people at a stated place for selling and buying 
agricultural commodities and for hiring laborers, have long been in 
successful operation in Great Britain. To the farmers there they 
are of great importance, constituting their chief, or perhaps their 
only, opportunities of effecting profitable sales or purchases of stock. 
The different breeds of neat-stock, of horses, of sheep and of swine, 
are exposed to sale, often in large numbers and of great excellence, 
at the local fairs in the quarter where they are raised ; and they 
attract to them dealers from a distance, with the certainty that they 
can find just the description of animals they are in want of. This, 
■with the local attendance, usually ensures a brisk business. And so 
great is the convenience of a market-day considered to be to the 
neighborhood in which it is held, that new fiiirs are constantly spring- 
ing up, the only limitation to their number being the amount of busi- 
ness which may be controlled by them. 

Besides live-stock, fruit, vegetables and grains find purchasers at 
these fairs, and they are offered for sale either in bulk or by sample, 
the latter being the more usual way of disposing of large quantities of 
any commodity. Most of these fairs, too, have a Avell-known and 
specific character, and are noted, some for the superior quality of one 
kind of stock or of produce, and others for that of another kind. And 
they often receive their name from the predominant article exposed 
to sale, as, for example, a fair at Avhich large quantities of cherries 
are presented, is called the Cherry Fair, and one of which sheep is 
the characteristic feature is called a Sheep Fair. 

But in this country, or at least in New England, we have nothing 
answering to these fairs or market-days. The nearest approach to 
them are the cattle markets established in the immediate vicinity of 
our largest cities, and mainly for the supply of the meat for their 
consumption, as those held weekly at Brighton and Cambridge, in 
our own Commonwealth, and which are the only markets of any ex- 
tent for the sale of live-stock, within her borders. These, however, 



differ in some important particulars from tbe fairs proposed for con- 
sideration. They are exclusively for the sale and purchase of live- 
stock, and that stock is mostly brought from a distance, sometimes 
even from the far West. They afford a good opportunity for farmers 
in the surrounding country to purchase such animals as they stand in 
need of, and they are resorted to very generally by them for this 
object. But they are not intended to encourage the sale of stock 
by these farmers, for the very ol)vious reason that but little or no 
stock is raised by them. They are also very inconveniently located, 
being at one extremity of the State, and therefore can be attended 
by the larger part of the farming population only at great expense. 

What, then, would be some of the benefits of regular fairs or market- 
days, estahlished throughout the State, for the sale and exchange of 
agricultural products — benefits that might reasonably be expected 
from them ? In the first place, they would offer to every enterpris- 
ing farmer in their neighborhood a home market, or a market near 
at hand and easy of access. Studded all over as Massachusetts is — 
especially on her eastern borders — with cities and large towns and 
manufacturing villages, it might be thought that the farmers are 
amply supplied with good markets and at their very doors. To 
some extent this is indeed true, but it is equally true that very 
many farmers — a majority perhaps — are obliged to travel eight or 
twelve miles and sometimes raoie, in order to reach their nearest 
market town. The loss of time in thus travelling to and from market, 
and the wear and tear of horse and vehicle, are no inconsiderable 
items of expense to the farmer who is placed in this unfavorable 
position in regard to markets. Suppose that he follows the market 
weekly for two thirds of the year, there are then thirty-five days to 
be deducted from the working-days of the year, and if in the fall he 
goes to market two or more times in a week, the number would be 
increased fully to fifty days, including the occasional days in winter 
devoted to this object. 

But the establishing of regular market-days in towns near to these 
farmers, would prevent very materially this heavy loss of time and 
the expense, to which they are now subjected. If there were twelve 
such market-days in a year, that is, monthly markets, where they 
would be sure of finding purchasers, they would save the difference 
between twelve and fifty days of time, which they then Avould have to 
spend on the farm in increasing its productions, besides making a 
corresponding saving in the service of horse and wagon. This sav- 
ing to the farmer may perhaps be more sensibly measured and appre- 
ciated, by considering what has been so justly stated by Henry C. 
Carey, in the Plough, Loom and Anvil, for September, 1851, in 
respect of labor. 

" The first of all the taxes to be paid by labor is that of transporta- 
tion. It takes precedence even of the claims of government, for the 
man who has labor to sell or exchange must take it to the place at 
which it can be sold. If the market be so far distant that it will 
occupy so large a portion of his time in going to and returning from 
his work, as to leave him insufiicient to purchase food enough to pre- 
serve life, he will perish of starvation. If it be somewhat less distant, 



he may obtain a small amount of food. If brought near, he may be 
well fed. Still nearer, he may be well fed and poorly clothed. 
Broiiglit to his door, so as to make a mai-ket for all his time, he will 
be Avell fed, Avell clothed, well housed, and he will be able to feed, 
clothe, lodge, and educate his children." 

Wliat is here said of labor applies with equal force to the products 
of labor, the nearer the market the more perfect is the power to ex- 
change them and the higher is their price. Trite as is Franklin's 
proverb, it is not the less true, that " time is money." And yet our 
New l^ngland fiirmei-s, trained as they are to habits of thrift and 
economy in other particulars, and certainly not wanting in any of the 
essential qualifications lor trade, seem, too many of them, in this im- 
portant matter of marketing their produce, to set scarcely any value 
at all upon time. But if their time be worth to them any thing at all, 
if it will yield any return when skilfully employed, it surely ought 
not to be thus misspent, not to say squandered in a reckless and 
shameful manner. 

In the second place, market-days, by bringing the purchaser to the 
producer, or rather by creating a half-way place and common ground 
of meeting for business, instead of the producer being obliged, as is 
now most Irequently the case, to go to the purchaser with his com- 
modities, would tend to make better prices and quicker and moi-e cer- 
tain sales for them. As at present managed, the farmer takes or 
sends to his nearest market town such things as he has to dispose of, 
and unless, he has a regular set of customers, he may be put to much 
trouble and inconvenience to find a purchaser, and must then often 
sell to a disadvantage. If, on the other hand, there is collected a 
large number of buyers at a stated time and place, and there are 
assembled such products of the farm as all are desirous of purchasing, 
it is clear that there will be more or less competition, and that sales 
will be readily eifected at remunerating prices. 

The tendency of trade in this country is to centralization. The 
large manufacturers of cotton and woolen goods and of boots and 
shoes, instead of selling at their factories, have their places for making 
sales in the metropolis. And where the manutacturer and the sales- 
man are united in the same person, it makes but little difference 
whether the factory and the shop are in one and the same place or at 
a distance from each other. But where the manufacturer sells his 
goods to the merchant, who buys to sell again, — as is the case with 
boots and shoes — then it makes oftentimes all the difference to the 
manufacturer, of a living profit by the sale of his goods, or no profit 
at all, whether the purchaser comes to the manufacturer, or the 
manufacturer goes to the purchaser. The scripture adage — "It is 
naught says the buyer," — will operate in the former case with unre- 
stricted vigor, while in the latter it will fail of its object to depreciate 
the price of that which it is known is wanted by the purchaser. 

In the third place, no small advantage would accrue to the farmer 
by the establishing of regular market-days, from their tendency to 
equalize the prices of agricultural products. At present, prices are 
left to depend too much upon caprice and accident, and but little 
difference is made between different qualities of the same article. 



6 

An inferior article often brings as much as, or more than, a superior 
one ; so tliat the sale of agricultural products resembles more a lot- 
tery than a fair and equable traffic. "What luck to day?" is the 
usual interrogatory put to the farmer on his return from market, 
meaning thereby not whether a sale was effected of his produce, but 
at what rates. And as a consequence of this uncertainty in prices, 
there is but little inducement to prepare for the market any com- 
modity — such as butter or cheese — of a superior quality, w^ien it is 
well understood that as a matter of dollars and cents, an inferior one, 
requiring less time and labor in its production, will pay much better. 
The advantage of an open market wliere products of a similar kind 
are exposed to sale side by side, is that a standard of prices is readily 
fixed, each takes its pLace according to its merit and commands the 
price to which it is fairly entitled. And this advantage enures to the 
buyer as well as the seller, and gives character and stimulus to the 
market. 

In the fourth place, in connection with this benefit and closely allied 
to it, is the healthy emulation wliich is excited by bringing different 
specimens of the same products into comparison with one another. 
Competition of the riglit kind at once springs up — a competition to 
excel in the quality of the article produced and not merely in the 
price obtained for it. The man who has been contented to produce 
an ordinary article, because he has generally obtained a good price 
for it, or because he has never seen any thing superior to it, is stimu- 
lated by the success of his neighbor, both as to the quality and price 
of his products, to produce a better; whilst the other to maintain his 
advantage and to avoid the mortification of being surpassed by his 
competitor, increases his skill and pains-taking. It is thus that pro- 
gress in all the arts is effected, and it is only thus that progress in the 
important art of agriculture is to be achieved. 

Besides this beneficial result, these fairs would tend to diffuse infor- 
mation, just as our cattle shows do, by promoting intercourse be- 
tween men engaged in a common pursuit, and bringing their minds 
into contact on subjects connected with it. Enquiry into the differ- 
ent processes by which results are obtained in the various branches 
of husbandry is thus excited, and the why and the wherefore of each 
are freely discussed. It cannot be otherwise than that the farmer 
must return from these fairs a wiser man, or if he thought that all 
wisdom would die with him, that this conceit must be rubbed out of 
him by the friction to which he has there been subjected. It often 
happens, for want of this intercourse among farmers, this interchange 
of opinions and mutual comparison of skill and intelligence, that indi- 
viduals exhibit an overweening pride in respect of certain processes 
or products, whicli is not warranted by facts and is simply ridiculous. 
One of these self-SLilHcient farmers, who had always in his own estima- 
tion the best of every thing, was heard to utter the boast, when 
speaking of the prospects for a hay crop, " that he should have had 
the best in the county, if his hay seed had only caught !" 

There is no denying that as a class our farmers are set in their 
opinions, whether Avell or ill founded, and this arises as much from 
their living comparatively by themselves, as from that independence 



of character, which springs from their occupation. The commercial 
intercourse of these fairs would supply just what is wanting to many 
of our farmers, it would liberalize their views and enlarge the sphere 
of their observation, and as a necessary consequence agricultural 
knowledge would be advanced. Indeed these fairs would become a 
school for the young farmer, and for all farmers who were not too old 
to learn. The various breeds of stock could here be learned, their 
points noted, their peculiar marks of excellence ascertained and a vast 
amount of experience and information in regard to them gained. 
Trained in such a school, our farmers would become much better 
judges than they now are, of farm stock. And will any one pretend 
that it is not vital to the interests of the farmer to be able to judge of 
a good cow or of a good pair of working cattle, so as to be seldom 
disappointed in making his purchases? Should he not here as in 
other transactions be able to think for himself, and if need be to give 
a reason for his opinion ? Will he not at least have more self-respect 
and command better the respect of others, than by a blind and hap- 
hazard way of doing his business ? 

The farmer needs to be well versed in the knowledge of buying 
and selling, and this knowledge can be acquired only by observa- 
tion and the exercise of his own faculties. Many formers fail here — 
they raise good crops and they harvest them in good order — but when 
they come to dispose of them they are at fault ; they are either too 
early or too late in making sales, and have usually the worst end of 
the bargain. Now why is this ? Mainly for want of practical ex- 
perience in trade. The narrow round of their customers gives no 
opportunity for them to learn, and they go through life with but little 
skill in this the financial department of husbandry. The establishing 
of market-days, by collecting large numbers of buyers at one place, 
and by the competion excited tliereby, would give to the farmer 
more tact in trading than it is possible for him now to acquire. 

In the last place, these market-days or fairs would tend to concen- 
trate New England f\irming upon fewer products, by making near 
and certain markets for them. As it is now, our farm products are 
too varied — we raise a little of every thing, and not enough of any 
one thing to make it profitable, from the expense of disposing of 
them. Of many articles raised on the farm, the little surplus over 
what is wanted for home consumption is taken to market. As a con- 
sequence, sales are uncertain and the proceeds come in by driblets. 
And there is at present little inducement to go largely into any one 
production. But create a fixed market near at hand, and our farm- 
ing would at once shape itself accordingly. One farmer would take 
to neat stock, another to sheep and another to pigs, and they would 
all aim to have the best breeds, and the best animals to take to the 
market. Quick sales, too, would be had for them, if it was known, as 
it would be, when and where they were to be offered for sale. At the 
same market the farmer could buy what he is now forced to raise or 
to purchase at great disadvantage. The farmer who went into stock 
raising, would not be likely to raise all other farm products, as he 
could find them at hand, on market-day, much cheaper. There would 
thus be a division of agricultural labor that would be for the common 



8 

good. Few farmers in this State think of raising their own wheat, 
as they can buy flour much cheaper ; and so it will be of many other 
farm products, when these markets are once established. 

We have dwelt thus at length on the general advantages of regular 
fairs or market days, if established throughout the State ; let us now 
consider some of the particular benefits to be derived from them. 
Every farmer wishes, more or less times in the year, to purchase live- 
stock, either young animals to keep over winter, stores to fat, milch 
cows to recruit his dairy, or working oxen, or a bull, or a horse, or 
swine, sheep or poultry. Some of these are sure to be needed by 
him, and he must either ride i-ound among the surrounding farmers, 
or he must go to Brighton or Cambridge, to make his purchases. 
The former course is attended with much loss of time and vast un- 
certainty of finding the precise animals wanted. The latter involves 
much expense, and the inconvenience of making the desired purchase 
at a distance from home, which distance must be travelled by the 
animals as well as himself, to reach home. 

Now, if there were a cattle fair held monthly or quarter-yearly in 
his neighborliood, he might at a trifling expense resort to it with the 
certainty or high probability of making his purchases, and he can 
return with them the same day to his farm. Or suppose that he has 
an ox which he wishes to mate, he can drive him to the fair and he 
may there meet with another farmer similarly situated, and thus the 
two are brought into a position to make some sort of a trade, which 
may be mutually advantageous. Now these men might have ridden 
about a week or more exploring barnyards and fields for an odd ox — 
and what fanner's experience does not illustrate the supposed case ? 
— and perhaps be unsuccessful at last. 

Again, many farmers wish to purchase in the fall young stock to 
keep over winter, generally heifers expected to calve in the spring. 
Heretofore, when cattle travelled on foot in droves to the Brighton 
market, they came so near their doors as to present a good opportu- 
nity for such farmers to make their purchases. But now live-stock is 
mostly transported to the large markets by the rail cars, and there is 
hardly any alternative for the farmer to make his purchases, but at 
these distant markets. Were local fairs or market-days established, 
then there would doubtless be droves of cattle purchased at the large 
markets at Cambridge and Brighton, and driven down to such fairs to 
supply the demand there. The farmer could then have his choice of 
such stock and at a price that while it would leave a fair profit to the 
drovers, would be less than he could aflbrd to pay at a distant market. 
This would occur only in districts where there were not young ani- 
mals enough raised, to supply the local demand. 

It may be, too, that among the benefits to be derived from estab- 
lishing regular fairs throughout the State, would be the encourage- 
ment they would thus indirectly give to stock husbandry, a branch of 
husbandry of late sadly neglected by us. The farmer is now tempted 
by the high prices ottered, to sell his best calves at an early age to the 
butcher. And in fact their slaughtered carcases are brought by the 
cars and by steamboats from New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, 
to supply the Boston market. Thus the number of neat animals 



raised to maturity, has not kept up with the wants of the community, 
and as a consequence the price of beef animals, milch cows and work- 
ing cattle, has experienced a most unprecedented increase. If the 
farmer could lind purchasers for two-year-old heifers and steers, as 
readily as for calves and at corresponding prices, what should hinder 
his making the attempt to rear them? It will be said perhaps that 
he has not the fodder to keep them over winter in any numbers, with- 
out encroaching on the feed of his other stock. JS'ow here is just 
where he should rouse himself to more enterj)rise to meet this want, 
especially by the cultivation of root crops. It is remarkable what 
immense burdens of carrots, rutu-bagas, mangel wurzels and sugar 
beets, can be raised on small plots of well manured land, and with no 
more skill and labor than are required in the cultivation of a corn 
crop. The turnip-culture is often said to be the foundation of mod- 
ern British husbandry. Why ? Because it enables the farmers of 
Great Britain to raise and keep a much larger number of animals — 
both neat stock and sheep — than they would otherwise possibly be 
enabled to do, and by this means to increase the manure heaps by 
which to augment the capacity of the soil for future crops. We have 
talked a great deal about the benefits of the root culture — it forms 
one of the standing topics of cattle show addresses — but it has made 
but slow progress among us. If we would once set about it in good 
earnest and begin to rear young stock, we should know by actual 
experience the inestimable value of roots for winter feeding, and 
should help introduce into more general practice their culture. And 
the prospect of a home demand for young stock — such as Avould 
spring up from the establishing of market-days — would certainly tend 
to this desired result. 

Again, there is a growing demand and at high prices, for good 
milch cows, especially for those giving rich milk, well adapted for the 
table and tor butter. Let a regular market-day be established in their 
neighborhood, and an additional inducement would be offered to 
formers to raise their most promising heifer calves, by the certainty 
of finding purchasers of their cows, just as soon as they were ready 
for sale ; and the competition of a full attendance of purchasers would 
most likely create brisker sales and higher prices than would other- 
wise be had for them. The great question which is the best breed of 
cows for dairy purposes — if indeed there be one — would after a time 
be in a fair way to be settled. If the Jersey or the Ayrshire breed be 
the best adapted to our pastures and our climate, and the most to be 
depended upon for the dairy, it would assuredly be found out; for at 
a Fair where dealers and fai-mers thus meet together, they would com- 
pare their experiences and make up a judgment accordingly. Or if 
a new breed of milch cows — pure natives j^erchance — should be origi- 
nated among us, that should meet all our requirements, that would 
then be the one to receive the most attention to propagate it in its 
purity. AVhy ? Because quick sales, large prices and a certain 
market at our very doors, would operate as a stimulus to such stock 
raising, and it would be seen that it would pay, when we returned 
from the market with the proceeds. 

3—2 



10 

So too we should raise our pigs, instead of being dependent, as for 
years we have been, on New York and Ohio for our supply, notwith- 
standing the disease which has proved of late so fatal to those brought 
from these States. The loss from this source to the farmers and 
drovers of Massachusetts has been immense. Can any one say, in 
view of such a loss, that its recurrence should not be guarded against 
by increasing the number of breeding sows, and making a home mai*- 
ket for their litters by the establishing of regular markets for their 
sale ? They can readily be taken to market in wagons fitted for the 
purpose, or they could be driven in droves, if grown to be shoats, and 
the supply, it is safe to predict, would not for a long time, if ever, 
exceed the demand. And here too, as in the case with milch cows, 
there would be greater inducements, by the establishing of such 
markets, to bestow more attention to breeding than has as yet been 
practiced among us. 

Let us come now to farm products other than live stock, — how 
would they be aifected by the establishing of these fairs ? Some pro- 
ducts, such as hay for example, would hardly be oifered for sale, 
unless it should be pressed in bundles so as to be made available for 
transportation. AVherever grains were grown in any considerable 
quantities, they would rarely iail of finding purchasers at these fairs, 
for it is well known that the suppl}' of these have not for a long time 
been at all adequate to the wants of the State. And it is equally 
well known that the Indian corn and the rye raised in New England, 
is far superior in quality to that imported from the Middle and South- 
ern States — for domestic consumption, indeed, no one having tasted 
of the former would use the latter, unless from sheer necessity. But- 
ter, cheese and eggs, articles that are now frequently sold at the door 
to travelling agents, or at country stores, and without any competition 
to enhance their price, would be brought to these fail's in sufficient 
quantities to attract purchasers for the larger markets, and sales 
would be made at their full value and for ready cash payment. 

In regard to apples, large quantities of which are some years 
raised in the State, the advantage of regular market days or fairs tor 
their sale, would be very great. As they are a bulky article, their 
transportation to market is no trifling atfair. Six or eight barrels are 
usually taken at a load in a one-horse Avagon, requiring on an average 
thirty trips to sell a crop of two hundred barrels, besides the time 
consumed in finding purchasei's. Now if the farmer were sure that 
on a particular day in the fall, dealers would attend the fair in his 
neighborhood, and make large purchases of this fruit for shipping or 
for re-sale at the larger markets, he could take with him samples of 
his different varieties, and thus dispose of his entire crop, to be deliv- 
ered at the cars or in the city, as might be agreed upon. By this 
comparatively small outlay of time and money, his net profit would 
be vastly greater than it now is. In the same manner, onions and 
other vegetable crops might be disposed of with advantage, both to 
the seller and the buyer. 

And here we are reminded of an incidental advantage to be derived 
from these fairs, and one by no means to be overlooked in forming a 



11 

correct estimate of them. Some crops, such as the apple, for exam- 
ple, are extremely variable, being one year abundant in some parts 
and scarce in others ; and anotlier year, vice versa. Some crops 
too, such as the onion, are raised in large quantities, in some sections 
of the State, and not at all in other sections. Now an abundant sup- 
ply of any commodity gluts the market, and often reduces prices to 
a ruinous extent. Hence, where there is an excess of these crops 
beyond the demand for home consumption, it could readily be disposed 
of to purchasers from a distance, who would be drawn to the local 
fairs by the knowledge of this very contingency. 

Besides the opportunity thus afforded for traffic at these fairs, they 
would be attended with peculiar convenience to the farmer in hiring 
laborers. He is now put to great trouble and uncertainty in obtain- 
ing such as are needed — doubtless owing in part to the fact that na- 
tive labor has been of late largely superseded by foreign. But even 
this labor cannot always be commanded at the time it is most wanted 
by him. He cannot spend much time in the busy season in riding 
round for work-people, and unless they happen to offer themselves at 
his door, he must suffer for want of them. Now at the opening of 
the spring work, at haying and at harvesting, if the farmer could be 
sure of meeting at the fair in his neighborhood, a large number 
of men in want of work, of whom he could take his pick, it would 
assuredly be no small convenience both to himself and to the persons 
hired. From this arrangement, a scale of prices, which would be 
highly desirable, would soon be fixed for the different kinds of labor- 
ers, and as a consequence there would be more uniformity of wages 
paid by our farmers. And if it were deemed expedient, a registry 
might be opened for the names of the persons thus seeking employ- 
ment, and of the place where they last worked. 

But it would be difficult to specify in detail, all the benefits, which 
might be expected to be derived from establishing regular fairs or 
market-days throughout the State. We have endeavored to enume- 
rate but a few of them — sufficient, however, to give some definite, 
and it is to be hoped, favoi-able views in regard to them. Doubtless 
here, as in other new enterprises, many of the advantages would far 
exceed the most sanguine expectations, whilst others would in time 
spring up that were entirely unlocked for. Take for illustration, our 
railroads — many of us can remember with what distrust they were 
reo-arded by a large part of the community, when they were first 
proposed for consideration. The stage-coach companies thought that 
they should be ruined — and the farmers reasoned very naturally that 
the general introduction of the iron horse, as a means of transporta- 
tion, would diminish if not destroy the demand for hay and other 
provender. But how has it turned out ? The stage companies have 
become the proprietors of the omnibuses running from the various 
stopping-places of the rail cars. And for the use of those omnibuses, 
and for drays, coaches and private vehicles, and more recently for 
horse railroads, the number of horses in the State, and their price 
too, has probably doubled or trebled since the first i-ail was laid here, 
and the consumption of hay and oats has increased in a corresponding 



12 

ratio. Other interesting particulars will leadily suggest themselves, 
illustrative of the incidental benefits of railroads, equally unforeseen 
by their projectors and the community at large. 

Let us now consider some of the objections that would be likely to 
be urged against the establishing of these fairs. It may be said per- 
haps that they propose too great an innovation on the present modes 
of disposing of agricultural products, to meet with much favor from 
the ffxrming community. We all know with what reluctance farmers 
quit long established habits and practices, and how slow they are to 
make any change in them. Nor can it be denied that a most radical 
change is here proposed to them, and one which needs to have a fair 
start given to it, in order to overcome the standing objections to every 
new enterprise. To take again for illustration the case of railroads, 
when they were first talked of, the conservative men on all sides 
cried out against this change from the long tried and Avell approved 
modes of travel on the public highway. Those in any way interested 
in keeping things as they were, joined in the cry of " let well enough 
alone." 

" But," says J. E. Williams, in an address before the Michigan State 
Agricultural Society, in 1851), when speaking of the old maxim tliat 
it is best to "let well enough alone," "it depends upon what 'well 
enough' means. As a maxim for a farmer it is pernicious. I hold 
in my hand two peaches. They grew upon trees which sprung from 
different pits of the same original tree. This large, blushing, richly- 
tinted, melting, thin-skinned and small-stoned peach, is cultivated 
fruit. The small, woolly, tough-skinned and large-stoned peach, is 
the natural fruit, the ' let well enough alone' kind. I hold in my 
hand two apples, plucked from the same tree, one from a grafted, and 
one from a natural branch. One is the cultivated fruit, the other is 
the 'let well enough alone' kind. You perceive the distinction is 
as marked in the apple as in the peach. These are a type and fit 
illustration of progress and perfection in every branch of agri- 
culture." 

Notwithstanding the doubts of some, and the gloomy forebodings 
of others, the railroads were started and they who at first were most 
opposed to them, have been as i-eady as any to avail themselves of their 
benefits. So it would most probably be with these fairs — once start- 
ed under favorable circumstances, they would give the best proof, by 
actual experiment, of their superiority over the present modes of sell- 
ing and buying agricultural products. It would doubtless take time 
to turn the current of trade into the new channels — but it would 
come — and the wonder would then be that the work had not been 
undertaken long ago. 

It may be objected to these fairs, too, that they are not adapted to 
the habits of our people — that they partake too much of the character 
of holidays to be favorably received by them. But, it may be asked, 
how can this be determined without making the trial? In fact, it is 
in our power to give to them just such a character as we please. And 
should they become the means of inducing our fiu-mers to spend a few 
hours occasionally in innocent and rational recreation, it may well be 
questioned whether the effect on their minds or morals would be at 



13 

all injurious. It is the bow that is always bent that loses its elasticity, 
so the mind that is constantly intent on business and is never unstrung 
in social intercourse, loses its quickness of perception and its keen- 
ness of judgment ; the heart that is never warmed into a genial glow 
of cheerfulness and pleasure, becomes cold and torpid. We should 
not be sorry to see as an effect of these fairs, more of the " good 
humor and all social affections and generous sentiments among the 
people," which the Constitution specially enjoins upon legislators and 
magistrates in all future periods of this Commonwealth to counte- 
nance and inculcate. 

Other objections might be raised to an enterprise so novel and 
untried as this would be among us. It is not necessary, however, to 
go into the further consideration of them for the reason that we can- 
not conceive of any sufficiently serious to require it. It should be 
borne in mind that the practical question is, not whether there are 
any evils to which these fairs might be liable, but whether they would 
be overbalanced by the positive benefits resulting from them. And 
this question could best — and perhaps only, be settled by an actual 
experiment of establishing them. And this brings us to the consid- 
eration of the best pi-actical method of commencing and continuing 
these fairs throughout the State, so as to create new markets for the 
farmer. 

And first it would be highly desirable, if not essential, that the 
farmers of the Commonwealth should be more fully informed as to 
the working of these fairs and the advantages to be expected from 
them, in order to their co-operating with earnestness and energy in 
their establishment. If it be true — and of this it is too late to doubt — 
that " where there is a will there is a way," the first great object in 
starting this enterprise is to secure the hearty good-will — the intelli- 
gent and the united will of the farming community in its favor. 
This, we are persuaded, is vital to its success. With this view, meet- 
ings might be held in the winter mouths in the different counties, the 
question fully discussed and a vote taken upon it. A series of such 
meetings might be held in different parts of the same county, until 
the subject was brought before its whole agricultural population and 
their minds were known, with some degree of certainty, upon it. 
And in addition to this, circulars might be issued by the State Soci- 
ety, to be distributed through the County Societies, setting forth the 
advantages of these fairs, and requesting the opinions of those to 
whom they were addressed, as to the practicability of establishing 
such fairs in their several neighborhoods, and the times and places at 
which they could best be held, also desiring each person to say what 
part, if any, he would take in giving them his support l)y his attend- 
ance and otherwise. When all this had been done, we should be in a 
position to judge whether it were advisable to proceed in establishing 
the fairs, or not. If the whole popular current was decidedly against 
it, or such a degree of apathy and indifference Avas manifested in 
respect to it as to make its success highly doubtful, then we should 
say that it was best to wait for '' the good time coming," rather than 
to attempt to force its advent. But if the pubhc sentiment, as thus 



14 

ascertained, were favorable to the undertaking, especially if a certain 
enthusiasm were excited in the subject, start it then, by all means, 
and the sooner the better. There need be but little formality about 
it. Let individuals in the several neighborhoods near the fair, asso- 
ciate themselves together by agreeing to attend, either to buy or sell, 
one taking this and another that article, and all determining to lend 
his aid and encouragement to it. One enthusiastic person in a neigh- 
borhood — an energetic, persistent man, not easily deterred by trifles, 
one that sees few or no obstacles in the way when a good enterprise 
is started ; or, seeing them, summons fresh pluck to surmount them, 
will certainly succeed in enlisting the hearty good-will and co- 
operation of nearly all with whom he comes in contact. With book 
and pencil in hand let him call on his neiglibors and talk over the 
matter freely with them, and then note down what this one and that 
will do to help on the fair, — specifying the articles they would sev- 
erally agree to carry to it. The power of associated action and the 
force of example, would in this way operate quietly but effectually. 
A few such men — young men, if they can be enlisted — will act like 
leaven to leaven the whole mass. 

There need be no regulations made and published as to the buying 
and selling, not even that the sales shall be for cash payments, which 
would certainly be the most desirable mode of trade. The fair would 
be the farmers' exchange — just as the merchants have their exchange 
in the city — where they meet to transact business, and self-interest 
and mutual convenience make the bargains. Neither are there need- 
ed any public yards or buildings for the display of animals or other 
products of the farm ; but they would be offered for sale at particular 
points, which would soon become well known to the public. On the 
23d of June last, Sanford Howard, of the Boston Cultivator, attended 
a cattle fair at Kilmaurs, in Scotland. In a letter published just after- 
wards in that paper, he says, " there were there about four hundred 
head of cattle, mostly Ayrshire cows and heifers, the greater part of 
which changed hands, although the market was dulL They were 
collected in the principal street of the village, the lots of the different 
owners being kept separated by men and dogs. The purchasers 
looked over the animals, and having decided on the ones they wanted, 
and asked the price, made offers, at the same time extending their 
hands. If the offers were accepted, the parties shook hands and that 
consummated the transaction." The whole is a very simple affair — 
as simple as Columbus making the egg stand on its end — if we would 
but take hold in earnest and determine to have it succeed. Only 
make a beginning by collecting together on a fixed day and at a fixed 
place, agricultural pi'oducts and men in sufficient numbers, and the 
market is established. The success of one such day would be almost 
sure to command success on the next, and after a few such days the 
market-day would become a permanent and popular institution, and 
would be noted in the almanac, as the different terms of the Courts 
are noted. 

Another important question, and one requiring much care and de- 
liberation in deciding it, is, how often and where shall these fail's be 



15 

held ? It is clear that this must be left with some body of men, in 
whom the public have confidence. The different Agricultural Socie- 
ties that receive the bounty of the Commonwealth, and are required 
to make an annual return to it of their transactions, might be request- 
ed to take upon themselves this duty. Composed as these societies 
very generally are of farmers, they have the confidence of the 
farmers, and they can best fix the times and places of the fail's, 
with the proper discretion. By their trustees, or by committees 
chosen for the purpose, they might exercise the necessary power with 
regard to the whole matter, witli but little danger of its being abused. 
They should, in the first place, map out the county, and then select 
such points as would best accommodate the population, having refer- 
ence to railroad and other facilities. The railroad companies could 
well afford to encourage the fairs, by charging but half-price to those 
who pass over their roads to the market. To make this matter more 
specific, let us take for example the County of Essex — that being the 
county with which the writer is most familiar — and let four towns be 
fixed upon as near as may be to its four corners, as the places where 
monthly fairs or market-days shall be held throughout the year. Such 
four places might be Danvers, (at the Plains,) Ipswich, Newburyport, 
and North Andover, (at Sutton's Mills.) Three of these towns have at 
least two railroads running directly to or through them ; and one, 
Ipswich, has the Eastern Railroad passing through its center. Hav- 
ing settled upon these towns and the points in them, at which the 
market could best be held, on the first Wednesday in January let 
a market be held at Danvers, due notice having been given to that 
effect. On the second Wednesday in January let a market come off 
at Ipswich ; the third Wednesday at Newburyport, and the fourth 
Wednesday at North Andover, and so go through each month in the 
year, observing the same order as to the days. In this way, it would 
soon be known that the first Wednesday of every month was mai'ket- 
day at Danvers, and so of the other towns, they would always have 
the same Wednesday in the month for their market-day. At first 
these markets might not be so fully attended, but still they should be 
observed, rain or shine, brisk times or dull. As the fairs are started, 
in respect of place and day, so they should be continued, for the 
reason that a change would be difficult ; but more especially that 
the habit of attending a particular market at a regularly recurring 
time, would thus become fixed in the life of the farmei'. And in order 
to accommodate the whole county by a larger display of stock, let 
some central town, such as Topsfield or Georgetown, having good 
railroad facilities — be the place for holding a market day for neat 
stock and horses in the spring and fall, the first Friday in May and 
October being suitable days for that purpose, and not interfering with 
the other markets. 

And in order to encourage this whole enterprise in its infancy, it 
might be advisable for the Agricultural Societies or pubHc spirited 
individuals to ofier premiums for certain farm products, that cannot 
so well be presented at the regular cattle shows, and do not receive 
any encouragement from them. For example, the best poultry in all 



16 

its vai-ieties, dressed for the market, mutton, pork, veal and other 
meats, might thus be noticed. The best lot of honey and eggs, of 
butter and cheese, of cranberries, quinces and apples, and of fruits and 
vegetables generally, might also receive the fostering aid of the soci- 
eties. The advantage of this mode of bestowing premiums is, that it 
would be the best lot of a given product, as prepared for market 
and exposed to sale, that would receive them, and not the best 
specimens, culled and fitted for parade, as is too often the case at 
our fairs. 



<> .-^"^ ■ ' ■ % >>-> /^ .' -^^^ A^ ^ % ^^ .^ ,^. 



O 



'^ . ^'t. C"' / '^^ A-^ 













.^^ 




« 


-..:^<.' 






^ ^ • " ' '■ ' ' \ "^^.S^ 






■*, 


°o 




^^ 






^o 


v-^' 






,0 




/^^ 


^ 


•H 


,'?'•„ 



'-^^ .-^' 





-\f 






^-. 


.** 






><r--\- 






.c^^ 


vP 






^r>. 






y 


'''^. 








o 


' •- - 






-> 








'^'.. ^ 




J 






*>*„ 


v* 






o 






?>^ 


''*■. 















o ^ 






4 O, 



-.^■ 



'<^ 



<>. 



.vVv% 



^. 



V 



<:^ 



.^■>" 



r.^v- 



-^ 



"^ 






-^' 



^ 



•> 

^w^. 



V 






'^ 



>. 



.'?►' 



V.'s' .0' 



'p. 






o ^ 



vOv' 



'^^ 






